Allioli

Allioli is a paste like cold sauce from Catalonia, The Balearic Islands and Valencia, it is now produced in abundence all over spain as an accompaniment for grilled or fried fish, shellfish, Paellas, salads, potatoes and snails to name just a few. Allioli means "Garlic and oil" in Catalan and is made by pounding garlic olive oil and salt with a large mortar and pestle to a smooth textured paste, traditionally it doesn't contain eggs, as in the Provencal "Aioli" but most contempary recipes now suggest the use of eggs to allow faster and easier mixing, this also provides a smoother sauce and gives the sauce a nice sheen, for these reasons, I will be including an egg yolk in my recipe today.

Ingredients:

Large mortar and pestle

1 Egg yolk

3 Cloves of garlic

1 250ml virgin olive oil

A pinch of salt

Method:

Peel and place garlic cloves into mortar along with salt, grind to a paste. Seperate the egg yolk from the white and add the yolk to the garlic paste and mix. Now add the olive oil a little at a time as for mayonnaise(an extra pair of hands can be useful to slowly drizzle in the oil as you mix the sauce with the pestle). Remember to always stir in the same direction, continue until you have a thick, mayonnaise-like sauce, enjoy..!